Electric deposition of metals.



ARTHUR BERCY STBOHMENGEB, Oi WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND.

ELECTRIC DEPOSITION OF METALS. i

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1912.

Application inea apra 11, 1912, semi No. 690,124.

To all whom 'if may concern:

Be it lmown that I, ARTHUR PERCY STROH- MENGER, a subjectof the King of Great Britain, residing at CaXton House, Westminster, London, England, have invented new and useful Im rovements in the Electric Deposition of letals, of which the following is a specification. c The usual method oi" depositing metal by means of the electric are or of electric welding is to hold the electrode in the hand, to place it in contact with the work, and to withdraw it, thus starting the are, and then to move the electrode along the work. Now in practice when using a metal electrode it is diiiicult to hold the electrode quite steady and to move it along at a uniform and correct distance from the work, and this is eS- pecially the case in small work such for instance as barrel welding when the current employed must be comparatively small and therefore the arc is short..

According tcthis invention I secure the electrode wl h suitably coated with some fusible insuiz covering upon the work and along the whole length of the line along which the metal. is 'to be deposited or' of the seam to be welded. The covering should be orA such a thiclmess' that the metall electrode is sup-ported by it at the proper distance from the wo-rlr. c

rlhe accompanying drawing illustrates theV U invention.

Figure l is side view and Fig. 2 a cross section. Fig. is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modification.

a t are two pieces of met-al to be welded together; they are supported in a vise or clamp c and are connected to one pole of a source of alternating current. d is the electrode connected to the other pole of such source and coated with fusible insulating material e. Y

It is in many cases advantageous to lay two or more conductors side by-side as shown in Fig. 3 and to connect them in parallel so that two or more arcs are formed, the resulting streams of metal uniting. The weld produced by such an arrangement is. more regular than when the electrode consists oi' a single conductor. In such a case it is not necessary to insulate each one of the oonductors separately.

The insulating material which I prefer to use is asbestos spun into the form of a yarn and smearedl with a suitable composltion such as sodium silicate, aluminum silicate and the like to vary the using temperature of the yarn; and the asbestos which I find to answer best is blue asbestos which is a ferrous silicate and acts rather as a reducing than as an oxidizing a nt so that it must etfectually prevent oxidation of the deposited metal.

The thickness of the material e will depend upon the size of the electrode and the strength of the current, the greater the current the thicker being the material.

The electrode may be secured in position by tying it to the work with string or by other convenient means. The end o' the electrode is bared and an arc is struck by a piece of carbon or other convenient means; the are fuses the covering and melting the electrode moves slowly along the seam. The fused covering acts as a Huf; and prevents the molten metal coming in contact with the air, thus preventing porosity.

l'Vhen welding an alloy it usually happens that there isa greater loss from the crater area e. that part of the work which is intensely heated one or more of the constituents of the alloy than ci' the remainder, so that the composition oi? the resulting metal is not quite the same as that ot the work. This loss which is dependent upon the current density can be determined beforehand and I therefore form the electrode of an alloy which contains an amount of such constitnent or constituents in excess of the amount required in the resulting metal, the excess being equal to the amount lost. For instance in welding steel there is a loss of carbon and I therefore use an electrode having a greater carbon content than is required in the resulting metal, the excess being equal tothe loss from the crater area which can be predetermined beforehand. Similarly if the steel contain vanadium for instance, I use an electrode containing a suitable eXcess or that metal, f

What I claim is l. A process of depositing metal by means of the electric arc, which comprises connectingthe work to one pole of a sourceY of electric current, laying an insulated metal electrode along the line on which metal is to be deposited, connecting this electrode to the other pole of the source of current, andl striking an arc between the work and the metal conductors forming an electrode along the line on which metal is to be deposited, connecting these conductors in parallel to the other pole of the source of current, and striking an arc between the worlr and th ends of the electrode.

3. A process of depositing metal by means of the electric arc, which comprises connecting the work to one pole of a source of electric current, laying a metal electrode covered with asbestos yarn along the line on which metal is to be deposited, connecting this electrode to the other pole of the source Vof current, and striking 'an arc between the work and the end of the electrode.

il. A process of depositing an alloy by means of the electric arc which comprises connecting the work to one pole of a source of electric current, laying along the line on which alloy is to be de osited an insulated electrode of an alloy w ich contains an eX- cess of one of the constituents of the work, connecting this electrode to the other pole of the source of current, and striking an arc between the work and the end of the elecf trode..

5. A process of electric welding, which comprises placing the two pieces of metal to be welded side by side, connecting them to one pole of a source ot electric current,

laying an insulated metal electrode along the seam, connecting this electrode to the other pole ot the source of current, and striking an arc between the worlr and the end of the electrode. r

6. A process of electric welding, `which comprises placing the two` pieces of metal to be welded side by side, connecting them to one pole of a source of alternating electric current laying an insulated metal electrode along the seam, connecting this electrode to the other pole of the source of current, and striking an arc between the work and` the end of the electrode.

7. A process of electric welding, which 'comprises placing the two pieces of metal to be welded side by side, connecting them to neunten one pole of a source of electric current, laying a plurality of insulated metal conductors forming an electrode along the seam, connecting these conductors in parallel to the other pole of the source of current and striking an arc between the work and the ends of the electrode.

8. A process of electric welding, which comprises placing the two pieces of metal to be welded side by side, connecting them to one pole 'of a source of electric current, laying a metal electrode covered with asbestos yarn along the seam, .connecting this electrode to the other pole of the source of current and striking lan arc between the work and the end of the electrode. v

9. A process of electric welding, which comprises placing the two pieces of metal to be welded side by side, connecting them to one pole of a source of electric current, laying a metal electrode covered with blue-asbestos. yarn along the seam, connecting this electrode to the other pole of the source of current and striking an arc between 'the work and the end of the electrode.

10. A process of electric welding, which comprises placing the two pieces of metal to beV welded side by side, connecting them to one pole of a source of alternating electric current laying a plurality of insulated metal conductors formmg an electrode along ythe seam, connecting these conductors in parallel to the other pole of the source of current and striking an arc between the work and the ends of the electrode.

11. A process of electric welding which comprises placing the two pieces of metal to be welded side by side, connecting them to one pole of a source of electric current, laying along the seam an insulated electrode of an alloy which contains an excess of one of the constituents of the pieces to be welded, connecting this electrode to the other pole of the source of current, and striking an arc between the work and the end of the electrode. I'

ARTHUR PERCY STROHMENGER.

Witnesses:

SLAUGHTER, U. J. WORTH. 

